Am I Rural? – Help

Step-by-Step Guide

Getting to Know the Am I Rural? Screen

The Am I Rural? screen has two sections, the control panel on the left and a clickable map on the right.

Step 1: Enter Your Address

Using the Control Panel

Enter a full or partial address in the address line of the Control Panel. The more specific an address match you
can find, the more accurate your report will be. For simplicity, the examples used here are for towns. However,
a street address would be preferred if you are seeking results for a specific facility or location.

After you have entered your address, click the Locate button or press the Enter key.

One or more addresses will be displayed, with the first result highlighted and selected.

Clicking the Map

To find your location, you can zoom and move within the map. Use the +/- controls in the upper left of the map
section to zoom. Click and hold on the map while moving your mouse to change the map area displayed.

Click on the map to place a new marker on the map at that location. The address associated with
that location is added to the list of addresses (see Step 2). You can drag-and-drop a map marker to a new
location or click the map in a new spot to add an additional address.

Step 2: Select an address

One or more addresses will be displayed as search results. If there are two or more results, the first address
found will be selected, and the map will be zoomed to a marker at that point. You can click another address in
this list to switch to that location.

As you enter addresses or click on the map, your address list will continue to grow. You can remove
an address by clicking the “X” to its right. Clicking “Clear All” will empty your address list.

Step 3: Run rural classification

After you have selected an address, click the Run Report button in the map section.

A report will be displayed for the selected location:

How We Match Locations

When You Enter an Address

How Am I Rural? gets coordinates from an address

When you enter an address, the Am I Rural? tool uses Bing's geocoding web service to retrieve one
or more possible matches for the entered address. These found addresses are added to your address list as
options. You can then choose the best match. Along with detailed address information, the geocoder returns
the latitude/longitude coordinates of each address. Am I Rural? uses these coordinates to place a
marker on the map when you click on a found address.

Problems and troubleshooting

If we can't find a match for the address you entered, Am I Rural? will try to find the best
match it can, whether that is an exact address, street-level address, or ZIP code match.

If an address typed in the Control Panel section does not produce a good match, get as close as you can by
entering a street name or even just a town and state. Then use the map to pinpoint the exact location of
interest.

This tool is only available for addresses in the 50 U.S. States or Puerto Rico.

When You Click the Map

How Am I Rural? gets an address from a map location

When you click on the map or drag an existing location marker, Am I Rural? uses Bing's
reverse geocoding web service to find possible matches for that location's geospatial coordinates.
The found addresses are added to your address list.

Problems and troubleshooting

Occasionally, clicking on a detailed street-level view of the map will result in reverse geocoding results
that aren't for a specific building but rather for a street or ZIP code. Even though an address may not be
at the detail level you prefer, the rural classification report is always run against the marker's exact
geolocation. Therefore, the report results will reflect the status at the current marker location,
not the address listed.

Rural Classification

More on Rural Definitions

See RHIhub’s What is Rural? topic guide for more information on how
rural is defined and why there are different definitions in use.

The rural classification report contains the following sections:

Location

Information on the current location is shown here, including:

A reference map of the state with the county and location highlighted

Address

Latitude and longitude

County

Census tract

Rural Programs

Identifies whether the location is eligible for the following based on rural location:

The Am I Rural? tool can help determine if a location meets the rural location
requirements of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Rural Health
Clinic (RHC) certification. (Please note there are additional location requirements for
RHCs.)

The Am I Rural? tool can help determine if a location is considered rural by the
Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP). FORHP offers many grant programs to help rural
communities improve the health of their residents. To be eligible for these programs, the
applicant organization must be located in an FORHP-defined rural area.

Counties that are nonmetropolitan or micropolitan (that is, not
metropolitan)
are considered rural by FORHP. Within metropolitan counties, FORHP identifies additional census
tracts as rural based on
Rural Urban
Community Area code and population density. For more information on how these tracts are
selected, see the
Federal Office of Rural Health Policy section of
Defining the Rural
Population.

Data Source: County and census tract list provided by the Federal Office of Rural
Health Policy

Common Rural Definitions

Information on the location's rurality, based on seven common rural definitions:

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines two types of Core Based Statistical Areas
(CBSAs):

Metropolitan statistical areas have a population of 50,000 or more
Micropolitan statistical areas have a population of 10,000 or more but less than 50,000

Each area consists of one or more counties containing the core urban area, along with adjacent
counties that are tied to the urban area via commuting. Areas outside of CBSAs are
nonmetropolitan (rural).

The Am I Rural? tool can help determine if a location is considered rural by the
Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP). FORHP offers many grant programs to help rural
communities improve the health of their residents. To be eligible for these programs, the
applicant organization must be located in an FORHP-defined rural area.

Counties that are nonmetropolitan or micropolitan (that is, not
metropolitan)
are considered rural by FORHP. Within metropolitan counties, FORHP identifies additional census
tracts as rural based on Rural
Urban Community Area code and population density. For more information on how these tracts are
selected, see the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy section of
Defining the Rural
Population.

Data Source: County and census tract list provided by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Frontier and Remote Area (FAR) codes are a collaboration of the USDA Economic Research Service and
the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy. FAR areas are defined in relation to the time it takes to
travel by car to the edges of nearby Urban Areas (UAs) and Urban Clusters (UCs). FAR codes are
assigned at the census tract and ZIP code-level based on a combination of population size and travel
time. There are four FAR levels, with Level 4 being the most remote.

The Am I Rural? tool reports the FAR code for the census tract of a given location.

Rural Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) codes are a collaboration of the USDA Economic Research
Service and the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy. This definition uses daily commuting
patterns to understand a location's rurality.

RUCA codes are assigned at the census tract and zip-code level based on population density,
urbanization, and daily commuting patterns. The primary classification uses 10 codes (1-10) to
identify metropolitan, micropolitan, small town, and rural commuting areas, based on the
primary flow of commuting. Secondary commuting flow is used to subdivide these 10 codes.

Current RUCA codes by census tract are based on data from the 2010 Census and the 2006-10 American
Community Survey.

The Am I Rural? tool reports the RUCA code for the census tract of a given location.

Rural Urban Continuum Codes (RUCCs) are assigned at the county-level by the USDA Economic
Research Service. RUCCs are numeric, 1-9. Codes 1-3 are assigned to metro counties based on
population. Codes 4-9 identify different types of rural counties based on degree of
urbanization and adjacency to metro counties.

Urban Influence Codes (UICs) are assigned at the county-level by the USDA Economic Research
Service. UICs are numeric, 1-12. Codes 1 and 2 are assigned to metro counties based on
population. Codes 3-12 identify different types of rural counties based on micropolitan or
noncore status and adjacency to more populous counties.

Shortage Areas

Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) are designated by the Health Resources and Services
Administration's Office of Shortage Designation, based on requests from state Primary Care
Offices (PCOs). There are three types of HPSAs: primary care, dental, and mental health. A HPSA
may be a geographic area, population group, or health care facility that has a shortage of
health professionals, based on criteria that include population-to-clinician ratios. HPSAs can
be located in urban and rural areas.

Medically Underserved Areas/Populations (MUAs/MUPs) are designated by the Health Resources and
Services Administration's Office of Shortage Designation. MUAs/MUPs may also be designated by a
state's Governor.

Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs) are geographic areas where there is a shortage of health
services. Medically Underserved Populations (MUPs) are groups of people with economic, cultural,
or linguistic barriers to healthcare. The factors that influence an MUA/MUP designation include
primary care physician-to-population ratio, infant mortality rate, poverty, and elderly
population.

Am I Rural? finds both federally designated and Governor's exception MUAs/MUPs for a
given location.

The Rural Health Information Hub is supported by the Health Resources
and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
under Grant Number U56RH05539 (Rural Assistance Center for Federal Office of Rural Health
Policy Cooperative Agreement). Any information, content, or conclusions on this website are
those of the authors and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor
should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.